About The Georgia post. (Knoxville, Crawford County, Ga.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (July 25, 2013)
Get Ready, Tread For Ed 2K Walk - will take place September 21, 2013, 5 p.m. A team honoring Ed Tomberlin WWW. WALKTODEFEATALS. org District-wide Title I Information Night will be Monday, July 29,2013,7 -8 p.m. in Crawford County Board of Education Room, Roberta, GA. Issue 30 One Dollar The Voice of Crawford County since 1921 (Also serving Byron & Peach Go.) Thursday, July 25 2013 1 Section, 12 Page Approved road list amended by County Chairman not happy his district gets shorted By Victoria Simmons The Georgia Post Roads, SPLOST and personnel were major items of discussion at last week’s meeting of the Crawford County Board of Commis sioners. County Administrator Pat Kelly asked commis sioners to reconsider the road project list which had been approved at the previ ous meeting of the board. Because of budgetary issues Kelly asked the board to consider adding the clearing, widening, grading and drai- ing of the southern portion of Smith Chapel Road. In doing this the county would act as the contractor and the Department of Transportatin (DOT) would award an estimated $97,000 for the project and the county could use those funds as additional revenues to help balance the FY 2014 budget. Total cost of the Smith Chapel project was $127,500. This amount would need to be removed from the project list to make financial room for the project. Kelly went on to say that the Local Maintenance & Improvement Grant (LMIG) 2013 project list had come under the budgeted projec tions. The grant required a 30% match from the county of the awarded amount of $274,230. The match amount was $82,279 for a total of $356,500. The terms of the grant require that the county spend all of the funds and projections indicate the county will be about $25,000 short of that requirement. Therefore, Kelly requested the board consider removing the Billy White project from the 2014 LMIG list and amend the 2013 LMIG list to include that project. Estimated cost of Billy White project is $28,530 which would satisfy the requirement of the LMIG for 2013. Kelly also asked the board to consider postponing the Walton Road project un til 2015. This would free up necessary funds to add the Smith Chapel project ($89,984) to the 2014 grant. Chairman Dean Fripp expressed concern that his district has had few im provement road projects since he was elected to the office and Walton Road was one of those projects. The discussion on how to pro ceed became rather lengthy. Fripp said he would support the new list of projects pro vided board members would support his requests for the 2015 LMIG which would include part of Rowell, Jack- son and Walton roads. All board members present were in agreement. (John Thomas was absent). County Attorney David Mincey, III told the board he had scheduled a meeting with Roberta Mayor Becky Smith to discuss the lan guage and final draft of the proposed SPLOST resolu tion and that the initiative was proceeding in a timely manner. The board was informed by Kelly that a deputy sher iff had been injured while on duty and that because he was still in his probationary period, he could not use his personal leave without board authorization. Kelly present ed the board with the per sonnel manual section which deals with this issue. Section 205 of the manual states that in the initial probationary period new employees are eligible for those benefits re quired by law such as work ers’ compensation and social security. Full time employ ees are eligible to participate in the county’s benefits programs while on probation except for personal leave unless denial would create an unusual hardship and the board of commissioners has final authority in deciding on its use. Commissioner Paul Chapman made the motion to allow the officer to use personal leave and it passed unanimously. Chapman informed the board he had been reviewing the two different appraisals submitted to the county for property being considered for a future industrial park. The commissioner said both appraisals were cor rect despite the difference in values. The first appraisal, he said, valued the prop erty from a commercial use perspective while the second one valued the property from an agricultural use per spective. Chapman said the property was unique because rail, water, sewer and utili ties were available and those features were necessary when considering property for a commercial use. In other business, Kelly presented the board with proposed advertisement and the Request for Qualifica tions and Proposals for secu rity upgrades for the Tax and Administration offices at the development center. (These are in this week’s edition.) Board members discussed the process of disposal of bodies when a next of kin could not be located. The local funeral home had in dicated cemetery space was not available and they were not willing to cremate unless someone or an entity autho rized the cremation. Mincey informed the board that where there was no next of kin and it was an indigent case, the law required the coroner to donate the body for medical research. He also said that if this issue did arise, the funeral home director should contact the county coroner to take possession of the body. Kelly told board members the FY 2014 Budget process was in full swing and that as part of the process he was meeting with various department heads. He noted that during discussions with department heads, there may be times when the depart ment head and the county manager did not agree on a budget. He asked the board to select two members to hear from the county man ager and department head in order to recommend a course of action to take. Commis sioners Frank Hollis and Dean Fripp were selected to be available for discussions on August 6, at 4 p.m. Kelly also requested that the 3rd Quarter Adminis tration Budget discussion be added to the August 6th agenda and the board agreed. Chairman Fripp reminded board members they each had a duty to make them selves available to sign payroll and accounts payable checks. He said that Hollis had been called upon too often and was carrying the lion’s share of the load and that all should share in this responsibility. The grounds around the Chamber and Depot got a much needed sprucing up Saturday. Above David Cousino and Bo Shrigley work on plants. At right top row are Joanne Hamlin and Bo Shrigley. From left back row, Kimberly Lesperance, Gloria Lesperance, Felic ity Lesperance and Cole Gaylord. In front are Paul Carroll, Montene Carroll, David Cousino and Faith Casino. The sprucing up was thanks to Modern Woodmen courtesy of Montene Carroll. 1 N 1 1 \ 1 l—i Come Taste Crawford Friday at Chamber Don’t forget about Friday’s Fresh Taste of Crawford C oun- ty. Since Crawford County/ Roberta has much to offer in satisfying hunger pains the Roberta -Crawford Chamber of Commerce will be hold ing a Fresh Taste of Crawford County on Friday, July 26 from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Depot. This will showcase what is available for your tastebuds in Roberta and Crawford Coun ty. In case of rain, the event will be held at the CGTC Ro berta campus inside. For $3 a person or $10 for a family of four you can “taste” signature food items from local eateries. Participants who will be providing the “taste” items includes Till’s Treats, Kuntry Kitchen, Hudson’s BBQ, Sub way, Turner’s Wings, Cham pion’s Restaurant and Big Chic. There will be a People’s Choice vote for best decorated table and the winner will be announced before the night ends. Chamber directors are hoping that this will become an annual event. Though reservations are not needed, the Chamber would like to get an approximate head count for the restaurants so if you plan on attending please let Patti know at the Chamber office. For more information contact Patti at the Chamber office, 478-836-3825.
